Modern map displays, particularly those used in aircraft for flight planning and monitoring, are capable of displaying a considerable amount of information such as terrain information and flight planning information. The terrain information may include situational awareness terrain and cautions that identify potential hazards. Flight planning information may include, for example, flight path and altitude information useful to the pilot.
An interactive navigation moving map display allows simultaneous display of traffic, terrain, airspace, airways, airports and navigation aids. Working in tandem, a synthetic vision system and INAV display give the pilot a complete strategic and tactical flight planning and control system. In real time, the pilot can confidently compare current conditions outside the aircraft against the strategic flight plan, and make decisions accordingly.
These electronic instrumentation displays continue to advance in sophistication, achieving increasingly higher levels of information density and, consequently, presenting a greater amount of visual information to be perceived and understood by the operator, e.g., the pilot. It is important that visual displays provide a proper cognitive mapping between what the operator is trying to achieve and the information available to accomplish the task.
Worldwide air traffic is projected to double every ten to fourteen years and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) forecasts world air travel growth of five percent per annum until the year 2020. Such growth may have an influence on flight performance and may increase the workload of the flight crew. One such influence on flight performance has been the ability for the flight crew to comprehend the displayed information while paying attention to other matters within and outside of the cockpit, especially during periods of high or low activity.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a system and method for strategic overview of a flight plan on an aircraft navigational display. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the exemplary embodiments will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.